The Dangers of Rosaroca #DnD #Roleplaying #Fiction

The following is an excerpt from ‘A History of Rosaroca, life on the Tortugan frontier’ written by Father Barraca.

Life on the frontier can be hard. And the land of Rosaroca was not an especially forgiving frontier. The climate is ever changing, ranging from freezing cold mornings to sweltering afternoons, followed by torrential storms in the afternoons, and this behavior could be found at all times of the year. The key thing that the settlers learned in the new County was to prepare for the worst weather at all times.

This led to a kind of fatalistic approach to life among the settlers. They knew that things could, and often did, change at any moment. So one had to be prepared to act at a moments notice, to rush to bring in a crop, to run for cover, to calling in the herds. It is this adaptability that made the settlers able to meet their biggest threats to the community.

After chasing off the Orcs and Goblins in the Sangrienta Campana the people of Rosaroca remained vigilant. Ever watchful as they began to slowly settle the area around the town. By the time of Count Vilpiano it was beginning to be felt that the Goblinoid threat to the region was gone, no longer were there any reports of even small bands in the Bosque Sangriento.

But it was the Rosada Elves that brought the news of the next big threat. They began to speak of the Lagarto, a race of beings that lived in the Mesa lands to the west. Initially they were no threat. But as the settled lands expanded we first began to encounter these strange creatures.

The Lagarto are a race of bipedal lizards. They live in the Rosada, and the Mesa lands. But their raiding parties have begun to attack our westernmost haciendas. Capturing and taking off with the livestock and occasionally killing the settlers. The first patrols of the Count’s forces to try to find them failed to locate them until they came across a set of ruins that the Lagarto claimed as their settlement. Attempts to peaceably interact with the Lagarto have so far failed. For now they are a nuisance on the western edges of the county. But any youth sent their on their Vieje are warned to be especially careful exploring any ruins, as that is where the Lagarto are most commonly found.

The Dwarves of Cold Rock told us first of the incursions of the Rata. In this case it was most definitely the work of a hostile race seeking to expand it’s territory. Little was known of them at that time. They were only seen in some of the far northern ruins found in the high foothills of the Dragonwall. They were reportedly a vicious race, attacking in swarms, and using terrible magics. At the time they had not yet come out of their caverns in large groups, probably due to the work of the Dwarves.

Perhaps the gravest danger to the settlers came from a formerly unknown tribe of humans living in the Dragonwall. The Gente el Dragon (as they call themselves) were a group of fierce dragon worshipers; a bloodthirsty race of humans practicing terrible religious rites. After first coming into contact with our settlements they vowed to keep us and all others from the Dragonwall. They were often well armed, using ancient weapons and armor from ruins they no doubt have plundered over the years. Initially they were a small group, that did not pose a big enough threat to force the Count to send his soldiers north. But I voiced a deep concern that there were more of them than we thought, and that they were simply waiting a suitable time of weakness to attack our brave town.